The Grenada gazette., 1887-10-29

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/ Trees and SEfnbs.
i Java and the archipelago general
10 the center Of poisons. animal an
vegetable. and no races are SO prom
to make use of them as the varie
tribes grouped under the general nam
of Malay. The 'kris." or serpentin
dagger. which has become almost
symbol Of treachery and revenge, In
= terrible reputation; but from my owl
observation. l almost doubt If it is eve
poisoned at all in the real sense OF th,
word. The Malay never grinds tn,
kris. but is always rubbing tho bad,
| with green lemon, or the Juice of .
pineapple, mixed with orpiment.
The effect at first is TO remove the
rust, but thicker coat succeeds, and
in time rough damascene is formed.
with notchy edge, and the effect of a
wound from weapon Of this
sort needs no explanation to any one
who has suffered from rusty
nail or needle. The poison of the
sumpitan or blow-,ube dart is, how
ever. very real. The Bataks. that
singular race inha biting Central Suma-
ira, and the only known people who
combine cannibalism with civilization
enough for written alphab abetical
language, are very skillful in its use.
They obtain it from two sourccs-ono
the upas tree and the other an allied
species called the ''ringus. The juice
OF this latter is most virulcnt, and
burns the skin like boiling oil. l have
many time seen coolies brought in
bowling dismally, with heads and faces
swollen 10 pantomimic size from hay-
ing incautiously struck an axe into the
''rlngus." The only way to attack it
IS for the woodmen to give themselves
; thorough coating Of grease, and
'ven then the risk to the eyes is SO
great that it is generally allowed to
'tand.
This tree probably gave rise to the
ables about the upas ("upas" is Java.
'eso for poison of any kind). The upas
'olson, however, requires to be used
ute fresh, as few hours exposure
0 the air converts it to crumblv
lack rosin, quite harmless. Another
olson is obtained from q species Of
lne-bcaring clusters Of bright fruit
he size Of cricket ball, containing a
umber OF seeds in an intensely bitter
ulp. The effects of this are very |
'pld. l have seen the Balak creep
P, snmpitan in hand, to where a /
oop of gibbons were yelling their ,
'lsy chorus from lofty trce-top, and 8
arcely half minute elapsed between t
g dispatch of the missive and the 4
ashing fall Of the struck ape. Even 1
G gigantic and formidable species Of a
e ourang-outang which haunts the n
rests OF the east coast, falls para. G
zed by two or three Of these tinv ;,
rts. =,
one OF the most famous poisons Of I
va is obtained from The bamboo. h
le young shoots of th G cane, when o,
" first appear, arc covered with fine 81
ownish hair; this, under powerful m
croscopc, appears as bayonet-like Fl,
kes OF slick, infinitely sharp. and al
nix hollow. though l could not be Dc
te sure. This hair. administered TT
lly in small quantities of the food. to
ngs on liberation of the bowels. n,
,ulating malignant dysentery. The 6r
ion must be Of mechanical rather ad
n chemical nature, Just as with the in,
rible effect on the eyes of the spores
ne common puff-ball. 1t is greatly ,ne
AIDED by the Dutch and all En-. ter
cans living in Java. A Dutch off. h.
told me that scores of deaths ye,
'ng European planters etc., put ye,
N to dysentery and diarrhea were The
ly due to the bamboo har and thu M
ousy Of the native women. Ca
B Mechanic. i .